Circuit bending is both a form of art and science that takes consumer toys (such as keyboards, Speak & Spells, etc) and turns them into new instruments that sound completely different and way cooler than they were ever designed to. Circuit bent instruments are used by both experimental and mainstream musicians because of their unique sounds.

The following steps are the general guidelines for getting acquainted with your toy and exploring it for potential changes that you could make. Sometimes, due to the way the toy is built, these directions might be hard to follow.

Steps

1

Besides the great sounds produced, circuit bending has another advantage: You don't need to know anything about the theory of electronics (you could know about it to understand it better). Circuit bending often leads into more sophisticated electronics as your projects become more ambitious.

2

Open the toy's case. Use the right size screwdriver and be patient and gentle with a pesky screw (especially screws and security bits, or torx screws). Many toys are made so that the soft metal screws strip easily, rendering you unable to open your toy.

3

Look for the right side. If the side of the PCB with all the tiny traces, running between the silver solder IC is where you can easily see it (without unscrewing it, you have no hassles in this regard. If not, unscrew the board and flip it around.

4

Insert fresh batteries and turn on the toy.

5

Make it play a demo tune or tape down a button or a key.

6

Take your alligator clips and start to run it over the traces on the green side of the circuit board. Sooner or later (hopefully sooner), you will find a place where your clips make a connection that alters the sound. (this is true if your toy does not have the PCB flipped over, and you see the brown side, where the resistors and things are, you can try to short circuit certain connections going back and forth from the CPU to the sound chip, and vice versa to crash the CPU program, and/or destroy the ROM.) Again, this will be different, depending on how the toy was made

7

Optimize. So you've found an area on the circuit that alters the sound. Now it's time to delve further.

Community Q&A

If this question (or a similar one) is answered twice in this section, please click here to let us know.

Tips

If you encounter a stuck screw, grab a good set of pliers and your screwdriver. With one hand, push lightly on the top of the screwdriver. Grab the shaft of the driver with the pliers and begin to slowly turn the driver. This should help with difficult screws, but can also strip their heads if you go too fast. Be careful.

Sometimes the voltage of your headphones output can be really high. So never attempt to plug earphones/headphones directly into the speaker. It can damage your ears, and damage the speaker and headphones port.

Don't worry about getting shocked. The voltage and current (don't worry if you don't know what these mean, look at a basic electronics book to find out) are not enough for you to get even a tiny shock as long as you have followed the warning above and are bending a battery powered toy. Be wary of large electrolytic capacitors most often found where you would plug in an AC to DC converter (those big black boxes attached to the plug on things like your cell phone charger). These large capacitors can shock you, but they're really rare to find in a circuit operating on less than 9 volts.

Circuit bending as an art is one of the least expensive. Make it even less expensive and shop surplus or scavenge parts. If you're an adult, ask your friends who have older kids for their old toys. If you're a kid, check your basement or in the back of your closet. You're bound to find some really productive and great sounding materials.

Warnings

Do not leave your soldering iron hot for too long. It can burn your house down or set off the smoke alarm, or cause a really bad fire

Never attempt to bend anything that plugs directly into the wall. The voltage present in these AC or DC circuits is extremely high. Basically, it's like sticking a paper clip (or your finger) into the wall socket. Don't even think about it unless you really know what you're doing

Never touch the liquid from batteries (sulfuric acid). It is poisonous and it can melt your skin. It will also leave rust on your circuit, battery holder, your clothes, hands or even your room. If you see the sulfuric acid, wipe it immediately.